As mentioned to this story in AP, there is a great need for patients to participate in clinical trials for the approval of NASH drugs. Another point stated in this story was that the awareness of NASH remains especially low among primary doctors who don't know to look for signs. Let's look forward to more awareness, knowledge sharing and collaborations, to fight this silent disease.

"I think this [artificial intelligence] is exciting, and will likely be the key element for enhancing the efficiency and quality of pathologists' diagnoses," said researcher Babak Ehteshami Bejnordi, of Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Peggy was battling for her life after being diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. She was indeed lucky to have met a donor, who was the perfect match. Liver transplant is the only real option for NASH. Hence, around the world, patients are placing their hopes for effective drugs to treat this disease.

“To get an idea of the extent of the issue, think of it like this: If you’re hanging out with two friends, it’s very likely one of you has a fatty liver problem,” says Wayne Eskridge, CEO of the nonprofit Fatty Liver Foundation. “It is the coming epidemic of our time because, although medicine is making progress against most other major diseases, there is no treatment for fatty liver disease.”

With up to 10% of children worldwide diagnosed with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and even nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, pediatric hepatologists face an unmet need for medical treatment and non-invasive diagnostics, according to a presenter at The Liver Meeting 2017.

Rinella noted that the number of liver transplants owing to advanced NASH has risen 68% in the past decade, while the number of available organs has only risen 11%. And the number of people with NASH on transplant waiting lists is expected to grow 55.4% by 2030, she added.